Marvels of the new West - a vivid portrayal of the stupendous marvels in the vast wonderland west of the Missouri River - comprising marvels of nature, marvels of race, marvels of enterprise, marvels (14762722514)

Identifier: marvelsofnewwest1889thay (find matches)
Title: Marvels of the new West : a vivid portrayal of the stupendous marvels in the vast wonderland west of the Missouri River : comprising marvels of nature, marvels of race, marvels of enterprise, marvels of mining, marvels of stock-raising, and marvels of agriculture, graphically and truthfully described
Year: 1887 (1880s)
Authors: Thayer, William Makepeace, 1820-1898
Subjects:
Publisher: Norwich, Conn. : Henry Bill Pub. Co.
Contributing Library: Harold B. Lee Library
Digitizing Sponsor: Brigham Young University



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ears ago. But the writer of the foregoing is perfectly relia-ble, and speaks officially, too. Eastern farmers cannot understand how it is that North Dakota,with its cold, piercing winters and terrible blizzards, and summersswept by cyclones, can produce more wheat per acre than even Cali-fornia. A scientist explains the matter as follows : The qualitiesof climate which bear on wheat-raising in North Dakota, and con- MARVELS OF AGRICULTURE. 645 tribute more regularly, uniformly, and efficiently to the growth of thecrop than any found in more southerly climes, are, more daily sun-shine, — the days, by reason of the higher altitude, being longer, —cool nights which always favor the cereal crops, deep frosts whichgradually melt and supply moisture to the growing plant, less intenseheat during the maturing months, fewer injurious caprices of weatherat the critical period of growth, and natural climatic conditions whichrender possible the production of hard spring wheat,—a cheap crop,
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■-----^^^ ^ri:^0mm^^^ Mccormicks new reaper. by reason of its being a quick crop of only about one hundred daysfrom seeding to maturity. The prevailing westerly winds, called * Chinook, extend to theinland plains of the northern Pacific country, and sensibly modify theclimate. In New England the farmer waits for the frost to quit the earthbefore he undertakes to seed it. But in Dakota, and all the regionwhich the Northern Pacific Railway has opened for settlement, thefarmer plants and sows as soon as the warm sun of March has 646 MARVELS OF THE NEW WEST. melted three or four inches of the six feet of frost in the soil. Thefrost continues to melt after the earth is seeded, affording moistureand heat from beneath, to the great advantage of all cereals. Likethe underground irrigation of California, this process of dissolving thefrost slowly turns out to be one of the finest arrangements of naturefor growing wheat rapidly and plentifully. Eastern people who feel the cold chills creeping